Mobile terminal

ABSTRACT

In a mobile terminal capable of preventing its breakage or damage by absorbing a shock of a contact between a folder and a main body in unfolding or folding of the folder by installing a buffer member to contact portions of the folder and the main body, a mobile terminal includes a main body housing a circuit substrate inside and having an operational button on the front surface, a folder rotatively connected to the main body and having a liquid screen, a hinge connecting unit for rotatively connecting the main body and the folder, and a buffer means for absorbing a shock of a contact between the main body and the folder when the folder is unfolded.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of co-pending application Ser. No.11/312,424, filed on Dec. 21, 2005, which is a continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 10/091,491, filed on Mar. 7, 2002, which claims thebenefit of Korean Application No. 2001-12027 filed on Mar. 8, 2001, eachof which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forthherein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal, and in particular toa mobile terminal which is capable of absorbing a shock of a contact ofa folder and a main body when the folder is unfolded/folded.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Generally, in a folder type mobile terminal a display liquid screen canbe largely formed on a folder, accordingly these days a folder typemobile terminal is widely used.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the rear of a folder typemobile terminal in accordance with the prior art, and FIG. 2 isperspective view illustrating the front of a folder type mobile terminalin accordance with the prior art.

The conventional folder type mobile terminal includes a main bodyhousing a circuit substrate inside and having a menu button 106 and adial button 104 on the front surface, a folder 110 rotatively connectedto the main body 102 and having a liquid screen 108 on the frontsurface, and a hinge connecting unit 116 rotatively connecting the mainbody 102 and the folder 110.

The hinge connecting unit 116 is constructed with a hinge bracket 112projected from the upper both side portions of the main body 102 andbeing connected each other by a hinge pin (not shown) and a cylindricalhinge unit 114 projected from the upper portion of the folder 110, beinginserted into a space between the both hinge bracket 112 and rotativelyinstalled to the hinge bracket 112 by the hinge pin. And, because aspring (not shown) is arranged inside the cylindrical hinge unit 114,when the folder 110 is rotated over a certain angle in theunfolding/folding operation, the spring provides an elastic force in adirection the folder 110 is unfolded/folded.

In the unfolding/folding operation of the folder type mobile terminal,in order to use the terminal, when a user rotates the folder 110 over acertain angle in the direction the folder 110 is unfolded, the elasticforce of the spring works in the same direction, accordingly the folder110 is unfolded. Herein, because a certain portion of the folder 110 anda certain portion of the main body 102 are contacted each other, itprevents the folder 110 from being unfolded over a certain angle.

Herein, a shock occurs on contact portions of the folder 110 and themain body 102. In more detail, as depicted in FIG. 1, the shock occurswhen the both corner portions 120 of the hinge unit 114 and the upperportion 122 of the hinge bracket 112 are contacted each other, and theshock occurs when the centrical portion 124 of the hinge unit 114 of thefolder 110 and the centrical portion 126 of the hinge bracket 112 of themain body 102 are contacted each other.

And, when the user finishes the usage of the terminal, the user rotatesthe folder 110 over the certain angle in the folded direction, theelastic force of the spring works in the same direction, accordingly thefolder 110 is folded.

Herein, when the folder 110 is folded, a shock occurs on the contactportion of the folder 110 and the main body 102 by the elastic force ofthe spring. In more detail, as depicted in FIG. 2, when the folder 110is folded, the front upper portion 130 of the folder 110 and the frontlower portion 132 of the main body 102 are contacted each other, hereina shock occurs on the contact portions by the elastic force of thespring.

As described above, in the conventional folder type mobile terminal, ashock occurs on contact portions of a folder and a main body inunfolding/folding operation of the folder, the shock may be transmittedto an operational circuit of the main body or a liquid screen of thefolder, due to that its breakage or damage may occur, according to anincrease of the number of operation times the contact portions may beworn away, combination between the folder and the main body may beweakened, accordingly the unfolding/folding operation may not beperformed smoothly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of thepresent invention to provide a mobile terminal which is capable ofpreventing its breakage or damage by absorbing a shock of a contact of afolder and a main body in an unfolding operation of the folder byinstalling a buffer member on contact portions of the folder and themain body.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a mobileterminal which is capable of preventing its breakage or damage byabsorbing a shock of a contact of a folder and a main body in a foldingoperation of the folder by installing a buffer member on contactportions of the folder and the main body.

A mobile terminal in accordance with a first embodiment of the presentinvention includes a main body housing a circuit substrate inside andhaving an operational button on the front surface, a folder rotativelyconnected to the main body and having a liquid screen, a hingeconnecting unit for rotatively connecting the main body and the folder,and a buffer means for absorbing a shock of a contact between the mainbody and the folder when the folder is unfolded.

The buffer means is a buffer member installed to a certain portion ofthe main body so as to contact to a certain portion of the foldercontacted to the main body when the folder is unfolded.

The buffer member is constructed with a first buffer member installed tothe uppercentrical portion of the main body so as to contact to thelower centrical portion of the folder when the folder is unfolded and asecond buffer member respectively installed to the both sides of theupper end of the main body so as to contact to the both sides of thelower end of the folder.

A first installation groove is formed at the upper internal corner ofthe main body in order to insert the first buffer member into, and asecond installation groove is formed at the upper both side portionsprojected from the main body in order to insert the second buffer memberinto.

The first buffer member has the same shape as the first installationgroove so as to be inserted into the first installation groove formed atthe main body, and a bridging hook is formed at the internal surface ofthe first buffer member so as to be inserted into a fixation hole formedat the first installation groove in order to prevent the first buffermember from being detached from the first installation groove.

The second buffer member has the same shape as the second installationgroove so as to be inserted into the second installation groove, and abridging hook is formed at the internal surface of the second buffermember so as to be inserted into a fixation hole formed at the secondinstallation groove in order to prevent the second buffer member frombeing detached from the second installation groove.

The first buffer member having a certain width is projected from thefirst installation groove, and the second buffer member having a certainwidth is projected from the second installation groove.

The first buffer member and the second buffer member are made of rubbermaterials.

A mobile terminal in accordance with a second embodiment of the presentinvention includes a main body housing a circuit substrate inside and anoperational button, a folder rotatively connected to the main body andhaving a liquid screen, a hinge connecting unit for rotativelyconnecting the main body and the folder; and a buffer means forabsorbing a shock of a contact between the main body and the folder whenthe folder is folded.

The buffer means is a third buffer member installed to the upper frontsurface of the folder in order to absorb a shock by contacting to acertain side of the main body when the folder is folded.

The buffer means is a fourth buffer member formed at the lower frontsurface of the main body in order to absorb a shock by contacting to acertain side of the folder when the folder is folded.

The buffer means is constructed with the third buffer member installedto the folder and the fourth buffer member installed to the main bodywhich are contacted each other in folding of the folder.

The buffer means is made of rubber materials.

A mobile terminal in accordance with a third embodiment of the presentinvention includes a main body housing a circuit substrate inside andhaving an operational button, a folder rotatively connected to the mainbody and having a liquid screen, a hinge connecting unit for rotativelyconnecting the main body and the folder, a first buffer means forabsorbing a shock of a contact between the main body and the folder whenthe folder is unfolded, and a second buffer means for absorbing a shockof a contact between the main body and the folder when the folder isfolded.

In a mobile terminal including a main body housing a circuit substrateinside and having an operational button and a liquid screen on the frontsurface and a flip rotatively connected to the main body and coveringthe operational button of the main body, a mobile terminal in accordancewith the present invention includes a buffer means installed to contactportions of the flip and the main body.

The buffer means is a buffer member installed to the internal surface ofthe flip.

The buffer means is a buffer member installed to the front surface ofthe main body.

The buffer means is a buffer member respectively installed to theinternal surface of the flip and the front surface of the main body.

The buffer means is made of rubber materials.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the rear of a folder typemobile terminal in accordance with the conventional art;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the front of the folder typemobile terminal in accordance with the conventional art;

FIG. 3 is a disassembled perspective view illustrating a folder and amain body in accordance with a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a disassembled perspective view illustrating a buffer meansand a main body of a folder type mobile terminal in accordance with thefirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a folder type mobile terminalin accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a flip type mobile terminal inaccordance with a third embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to accompanying drawings.

A plurality of embodiments of a folder type mobile terminal inaccordance with the present invention can exist, hereinafter thepreferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a disassembled perspective view illustrating a folder and amain body in accordance with the first embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIG. 4 is a disassembled perspective view illustrating abuffer means of a main body of a folder type mobile terminal inaccordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.

A folder type mobile terminal in accordance with the first embodiment ofthe present invention includes a main body 4 housing an operationalsubstrate inside and having an operational button 2 on the frontsurface, a folder 8 rotatively connected to the main body 4 and having aliquid screen 6, a hinge connecting unit rotatively connecting the mainbody 4 and the folder 8, and a buffer means absorb a shock of a contactof the main body 4 and the folder 8 in an unfolding operation of thefolder 8.

The hinge connecting unit is constructed with a hinge bracket 10projected from the upper both side portions of the main body 4 and ahinge unit 12 projected from the upper end portion of the folder 8,placed between both of the hinge bracket 10 and rotatively installed tothe hinge bracket 10 by a hinge pin 14.

And, because a spring (not shown) is placed inside the hinge unit 12,when the folder 8 is unfolded over a certain angle, the elastic force isprovided in an unfolded direction, and when the folder 8 is folded overa certain angle, the elastic force is provided in a folded direction.

The buffer means is constructed with a plurality of buffer membersinstalled to contact portions of the folder 8 and the main body 4 in theunfolding operation of the folder 8 in order to absorb a shock on thecontact portions of the folder 8 and the main body 4 occurred by theelastic force of the spring.

In the plurality of buffer members, a first buffer member 16 isinstalled to the uppercentrical portion of the main body 4 so as tocontact to the centrical portion of the hinge unit 12 of the folder 8when the folder 8 is in the unfolded state, and a second buffer member18 is respectively installed on the both upper portions of the hingebracket 10 of the main body 4 so as to contact to the both upperportions of the hinge unit 12.

A first installation groove 20 for installing the first buffer member 16is formed on the upper internal corner portion of the main body 4, and asecond installation groove 22 for installing the second buffer member 18is respectively formed on the both upper portions of the hinge bracket10 projected from the main body 4.

Herein, as depicted in FIG. 5, the first installation groove 20 has aquadrilateral shape, and a fixation hole 24 at which the first buffermember 16 is fixed is formed on the internal surface of the firstinstallation groove 20. And, as depicted in FIG. 6, the secondinstallation groove 22 has a quadrilateral shape, and a fixation hole 28at which the second buffer member 18 is fixed is formed on the internalsurface of the second installation groove 22.

The first buffer member 16 has a quadrilateral shape so as to beinserted into the first installation groove 20, and a bridging hook 30for being combined with the fixation hole 24 of the first installationgroove 20 is formed on the internal surface of the first buffer member16 in order to prevent the first buffer member 16 from being detachedfrom the first installation groove 20. And, in order to perform thebuffer operation smoothly in contact with the certain portion of thefolder 8, it is preferable for the first buffer member 16 projected fromthe first installation groove 20 to have a certain width.

The second buffer member 18 has a quadrilateral shape so as to beinserted into the second installation groove 22, and a bridging hook 32for being combined with the fixation hole 28 of the second installationgroove 22 is formed on the internal surface of the second buffer member18 in order to prevent the second buffer member 18 from being detachedfrom the second installation groove 22. And, in order to perform thebuffer operation smoothly in contact with the contact portion of thefolder 8, it is preferable for the second buffer member 18 projectedfrom the upper portion of the hinge bracket 10 to have a certain width.

It is preferable for the first buffer member 16 and the second buffermember 18 to be made of rubber materials suitable for absorbing theshock in contact with the folder 8.

And, the first buffer member 16 and the second buffer member 18 can havevarious shapes such as a circular shape or an oval figure, etc., and thefirst installation groove 20 and the second installation groove 22 canhave various shapes according to shapes of the first buffer member 16and the second buffer member 18.

In the folder type mobile terminal in accordance with the presentinvention, when the user rotates folder 8 over a certain angle in orderto use the terminal, the elastic force of the spring works in theunfolded direction, accordingly the folder 8 is unfolded.

When the folder 8 is in the unfolded state, the lower central portion ofthe folder 8 contacts with the first buffer member 16 installed to themain body 4. Herein, the first buffer member 16 absorbs the shock of thecontact.

And, when the folder 8 is in the unfolded state, the both sides of thelower end of the folder 8 is contacted to the second buffer member 18installed to the hinge bracket 10. Herein, the second buffer member 18absorbs the shock of the contact.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a folder type mobile terminalin accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

A folder type mobile terminal in accordance with the second embodimentof the present invention includes a buffer means for absorbing a shockof a contact of the folder 8 and the main body 4 when the user folds thefolder 8 after finishing the usage of the terminal.

The buffer means is constructed with at least one buffer memberinstalled on contact portions of the folder 8 and the main body 4 in thefolded state in order to absorb a shock of a contact of the folder 8 andthe main body 4 in the folded state.

In more detail, the buffer means can be constructed with a third buffermember 40 installed to the upper front surface of the folder 8 so as tocontact with the contact portion of the main body 4 or a fourth buffermember 42 installed to the lower front surface of the main body 4 so asto contact with the contact portion of the folder 8 or both of the thirdbuffer member 40 installed to the folder 8 and the fourth buffer member42 installed to the main body 4 so as to contact each other.

Herein, it is preferable for the third and the fourth buffer members 40,42 respectively projected from the upper surface of the folder 8 and themain body 4 to be made of rubber materials.

And, the third buffer member 40 and the fourth buffer member 42 can havevarious shapes such as a circular shape or an oval figure.

In the folder type mobile terminal in accordance with the secondembodiment of the present invention, after the user finishes the usageof the terminal, the user rotates the folder 8 over a certain angle inthe folded direction, the elastic force of the spring works on thefolded direction, accordingly the folder 8 is folded.

Herein, when the folder 8 is folded, in the installation of the thirdbuffer member 40, the third buffer member 40 is contacted to the contactportion of the main body 4, accordingly the third buffer member 40absorbs the shock of the contact in the folding of the folder 8.

And, if the fourth buffer member 42 is installed to the man body 4, thefourth buffer member 42 is contacted to the contact portion of thefolder 8, accordingly the fourth buffer member 42 absorbs the shock ofthe contact in the folding of the folder 8.

And, if the third buffer member 40 is installed to the folder 8 and thefourth buffer member 42 is installed to the main body 8, the thirdbuffer member 40 and the fourth buffer member 42 are contacted eachother, accordingly they absorbs the shock of the contact in the foldingof the folder 8.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a flip type mobile terminal inaccordance with a third embodiment of the present invention.

A flip type mobile terminal in accordance with the third embodiment ofthe present invention includes a main body 54 housing a circuitsubstrate inside and having a liquid screen 52 and a operational button50 on the front surface, a flip 56 rotatively connected to the main body54 and covering the operational button 50, and a buffer means installedto contact portions of the flip 56 and the main body 54 inunfolding/folding operation of the flip 56 in order to absorb a shock ofa contact in the unfolding/folding operation of the flip 56.

The buffer means can be constructed as a buffer member 58 installed tothe internal surface of the flip 56 in order to absorb a shock of acontact of the flip 56 and the main body 54 or a buffer member 60installed to a certain portion of the front surface of the main body 54at which the operational button 50 is projected.

The buffer means can include both of the buffer members 58, 60respectively installed to the internal surface of the flip 56 and thefront surface of the main body 54.

As described above, in a mobile terminal in accordance with the presentinvention, when a user rotates a folder over a certain angle in anunfolded direction in order to use a terminal, an elastic force of aspring works on the unfolded direction, accordingly the folder isunfolded. Herein, a first buffer member and a second buffer member arecontacted each other when the folder is unfolded, accordingly theyabsorb a shock of a contact, accordingly a breakage or a damage of theterminal can be prevented.

In addition, after finishing the usage of the terminal, when the userrotates the folder over a certain angle in a folded direction, theelastic force of the spring works in the folded direction, accordinglythe folder is folded. Herein, by installing a third buffer member to thefolder so as to contact to a certain portion of the main body orinstalling a fourth buffer member to the main body so as to contact to acertain side of the folder or installing both of the third buffer memberand the fourth buffer member, a shock of a contact of the folder and themain body in the folding operation can be absorbed, accordingly abreakage or a damage of the terminal can be prevented.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, itshould also be understood that the above-described embodiments are notlimited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unlessotherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within itsspirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore allchanges and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of theclaims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds are therefore intendedto be embraced by the appended claims.

1. A handheld mobile terminal comprising: a main body; a folder having adisplay screen; a spring-loaded hinge connecting unit to bias the folderinto an unfolded position upon reaching a certain angle with respect tothe main body; and a non-conductive buffer member provided at anexterior contact portion on one of the folder and the main body, thecontact portion being an area that the folder contacts the main bodywhen the folder is unfolded or folded, the buffer member to absorb shockwhen the folder is unfolded or folded, wherein one of the folder and themain body includes an installation recess, and an attachment recessadjoining the installation recess, wherein the buffer member includes amain body portion having an upper part and a lower part, the lower partbeing located within the installation recess, the lower part having asimilar shape as the installation recess, the perimeter of the lowerpart being surrounded by the installation recess, the upper partprojecting from the installation recess, and wherein the buffer memberfurther includes an attachment portion extending from the lower part ofthe main body portion, the attachment portion being located within theattachment recess to prevent the buffer member from being detached fromthe installation recess.
 2. The handheld mobile terminal according toclaim 1, wherein the buffer member is provided on the folder.
 3. Thehandheld mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the buffer memberis provided on the main body.
 4. The handheld mobile terminal accordingto claim 1, wherein the buffer member is provided near an end portion ofthe main body.
 5. The handheld mobile terminal according to claim 1,wherein the buffer member is provided at a side portion of the mainbody.
 6. The handheld mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein themain body includes an antenna that protrudes from the main body.
 7. Thehandheld mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the main bodyincludes an antenna that is for wireless communications.